Concurrent with the group exhibition, Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is pleased to present, Breathing Room, a solo exhibition of new drawings and paintings by Jennifer Packer on view at the gallery from December 10, 2015 through January 23, 2016.

Rejecting classical representation and formal composition, Packer creates expressionistic portraits, interior scenes, and still lifes that suggest a casual intimacy. Packer views her works as the result of an authentic encounter and exchange. The models for her portraits – commonly friends or family members – are relaxed and seemingly unaware of the artist’s or viewer’s gaze.

Packer’s paintings are rendered in loose line and brush stroke using a limited color palette, often to the extent that her subject merges with or retreats into the background. Suggesting an emotional and psychological depth, her work is enigmatic, avoiding a straightforward reading. “I think about images that resist, that attempt to retain their secrets or maintain their composure, that put you to work,” she explains. “I hope to make works that suggest how dynamic and complex our lives and relationships really are.”

Jennifer Packer, born in Philadelphia in 1984, received her BFA from the Tyler University School of Art at Temple University in 2007, and her MFA from the Yale University School of Art in 2012. In 2012-2013 she was Artist-in-Residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem, and since 2014 has been a Visual Arts Fellow at The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. Packer lives and works in New York.